This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
So I was told that I can use the storage on an external hard drive to update Windows 10, which would make sense. I even saw on other Windows Community Forums that it is possible, however there aren't any tutorials or anything online that I could find. I've tried but the update page tells me I need more space, I really hope I didn't waste money on an external hard drive, it would have taken 3 weeks for an internal. So if it is possible to use the space on the hard drive to update Windows please guide me through.
Thank you.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Hi Adam,
There will be an option to use an external drive to temporarily extend the storage space of your computer while the update is being installed if your device doesn't have enough space for the update. We recommend that you check this article as a guide on how to use an external storage device to install updates for your Windows 10.
Let us know whenever you need further assistance.
I'm having NEARLY the exact same problem with the exact same screenshots...except, by some miracle, on one random try I actually got an option to download to the external drive! I did that--and I see the files there--but the installation does not occur from the drive. I keep getting the instruction to update, and it doesn't matter if I go through the "Update Assistant" or through settings/Windows Update. Is there any fix for this? Given the number of queries on numerous Internet sites about this issue for months, the people in this thread are obviously not the only ones having problems!
I must have a different version of windows then... I have NEVER been offered that option on any update (and frankly I'd rather MS had just insisted the minimum for all these crappy netbooks, had been 64G of storage..)
Well, if this is the ultimate solution, how do you get rid of the annoying prompt to update?
Hi,
If you did not see the option to use an external drive to temporarily free up space so that the Windows update can be done, we suggest that you utilize the different options available on this link to resolve your concern and get the free space the update needs.
Feel free to reach out to us for any further concerns.
